This year's Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was an amazing event, and it would not have happened without the help of some amazing organizers... and some amazing sponsors. I haven't even begun writing recap posts of the event, but I knew I had to give the conference sponsors a big Shout Out and a huge Thank You for all they did to make this event happen!

Getting the right sponsors can be a tricky thing. I know sponsors do attendees a huge service by helping to foot the bill, but you want a sponsor that will enhance the conference experience for everyone, not just subsidize it. It can be all too easy for a conference attendee to be turned off by a sponsor's pushy sales pitch, tacky swag, or insane demands for coverage. I can tell you here and now that this was NOT the case with any of the sponsors at DisneySMMoms.

To begin with, I was impressed with the quality of the sponsors; they're all trusted and respected brands whose products and values I happen to admire. I was also impressed at how the organizers carefully selected sponsors who were a great fit with the conference events, and an even better fit with the conference attendees. I was happy that they recognize the influence of parents in social media. I was happy that they respected us enough to trust that we would get the word out about their products and services in our own time and in our own way, without any requirements on their part. And to be totally honest, I was thrilled at the attention they lavished on us!

The magical surprises began even before we left home -- American Tourister, the official luggage of Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort, sent us a gorgeous spinner suitcase from their Color Your World collection.

The conference did not have an expo floor, but during conference check-in, attendees had the opportunity to check out some booths run by Disney Wild About Safety, Disney Interactive, Disney Citizenship, Taylor Morrison, ESPN Zone, and New Balance.

credit for individual photos in collage: Josh Hallett @hyku

The welcome reception on Thursday was sponsored by Coppertone, who were showcasing some of their sun protection products. My family takes sun safety very seriously and we go through a huge amount of Coppertone sunscreen throughout the year. We never enter a Disney park without a Coppertone KIDS sunstick!

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

The family dinner on Thursday was sponsored by Disney Magic of Healthy Living. The dinner featured some yummy items from the Mickey Check program, as well as healthy snacks from Disney Consumer Products. Disney Interactive was also present at the dinner to showcase some of their latest games and apps.

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

I love all the healthy Disney branded snacks I'm seeing in supermarkets these days: if slapping Mickey and Minnie on the label of a pack of apples or carrots gets kids more excited to eat the apples and carrots, I say go for it!

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

Breakfast on Friday was sponsored by Hanes. They set up a cute little storefront right outside the breakfast hall so attendees could check out all the bright colors and soft fabrics of their ComfortBlend products.

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

The general session on Friday was sponsored by Alamo, the official car rental company of Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort. We've used Alamo in the US and in the UK, and they always seem to have the best prices. We've driven to Wales, France, and Belgium in an Alamo car, and we'll probably drive an Alamo car when we take a trip to Scotland this summer!

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

Want another example of how sweet Alamo is? They even provided a candy bar to perk us up during that tricky afternoon period when all you want to do is nap!

Thanks to Disney Parks Synergy, we were able to get a sneak peek at the latest Maleficent trailer and watch a special screening of the new Disneynature movie, Bears (it comes out today... go see it!)

The Toontown family dinner on Saturday was sponsored by GoGoSqueez -- guess what the kids chose for dessert that night instead of cake pops? Okay, they did have the cake pops, but for once, they only grabbed one cake pop instead of two, because they wanted to leave room in their tummies for all that yummy GoGoSqueez applesauce. I had no idea it came in so many flavors -- we tried Apple Grape, Apple Mandarin, Apple Banana, and Apple Mango, and their latest flavor, Gimme Five (a blend of apple, mango, strawberry, peach, and banana). Yummm... who says only little kids like applesauce?

Those of us who registered for the Sunday morning fun run are especially grateful to runDisney and New Balance, the official shoe of runDisney.

photo credit: Josh Hallett @hyku

Throughout the conference there were surprises in store for attendees and their families, courtesy of Build A Bear, the Disney Store, Hollywood Records, Joffrey's Coffee and Tea Company (after last weekend, my husband's new favorite coffee company!), H2O Plus, and Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Sponsors such as Nikon, Disney Aulani, runDisney, the Disney Store, and Build A Bear even provided fabulous prizes that were raffled away to a few lucky attendees.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the sponsors of this year's Disney Social Media Moms Celebration -- you helped make the event truly magical for me and my family!

Win a Disney Social Media Moms Celebration prize pack

I've put together a special prize pack featuring some of the items I took home from this year's Disney Social Media Moms Celebration (along with some items from the DisneySide @Home Party I hosted), and I'll be sending it to one lucky Bonggamom Finds reader! The prize pack will contain:

iPad mini case

Reading Rainbow reading log

Muppets Most Wanted puzzle

H20 Plus toiletry samples

Sofia the First storybook

Disneynature Bears button

Cars Land flag

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse storybook

soft laptop case

runDisney bracelets

Sabrina Carpenter cd

HP photo card packs

Star Wars M&Ms

Olaf magnet

copy of Driven, Donald Driver's memoir

Hanes tee (child 10/12)

Minnie watermelon seeds

runDisney tote bag

DSMM card holder

Disney JR water bottle

Disney TRYit apron

....plus a few other goodies :)

Required Entry

Leave a comment on this post and tell me which of the sponsors mentioned on this post you like best, and which product of theirs you buy or use.

Extra EntriesFor extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

7) Join any open giveaway on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for every giveaway you join)The RulesThis giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on May 4, 2014; I will draw a winner at random, on May 5 and post their name after they confirm acceptance. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here.

Disclosure: I was invited to attend the 2014 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. The conference fee I paid included discounted lodging and park tickets for me and my family as well as free products from sponsors. I was not asked or required to blog about the conference or any of its sponsors. Neither Disney Social Media Moms conference organizers nor any of its sponsors are responsible for hosting this giveaway, or for prize fulfillment. Please direct all questions and comments about this giveaway to bonggamom@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.Tweet this!

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed on the Bonggamom Finds blog are the personal views of the author; any reviews or recommendations are not intended to constitute medical advice or treatment in any form. In addition, neither the Bonggamom Finds blog nor its author are liable, and cannot be held liable, for any dissatisfaction you may have with the product, sponsor or any injuries that may be caused by use of that product.

Posts on this blog routinely link out to other sites; I am not responsible and cannot be held liable for anything on those sites.

I occasionally receive samples of the products I review on this blog. I also occasionally accept monetary compensation for posts on this site. If and when I receive either product samples or compensation for writing a review post, this will be clearly stated in the body of the review post.